


Moving On

by psychoroach



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Smut, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 09:31:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18870478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychoroach/pseuds/psychoroach
Summary: Post Endgame snapshots of various people.





	Moving On

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically my way of coping with things from Endgame. 
> 
> Read, review, kudos!

The one thing not many people knew about May Parker was that since she had a teenager to take care of and be responsible for, she worked two jobs to make ends meet. After she had Tony Stark crash his way into her nephew's life, he offered to help, to pay off her rent, buy things Peter needed and the like, but May turned him down. Peter had been her responsibility ever since he was a young boy, and always would be, and she didn't want to take handouts from anyone, even someone with good intentions (in his on way anyway). However, when Peter's class was going to take a trip to England, she knew she had to let him go. She scraped up enough money to send him, but couldn't go with him as a chaperone, and knowing Peter, he definitely needed one of those.

So when Steve offered to go with him, she gladly took him up on the offer. Steve had taken over Tony's mentor role to her nephew (along with Bucky Barnes and occasionally Clint Barton, who mostly helped Peter out with his Spider-Man stuff when he needed it), and May was glad for the male presence in Peter's life. It was a very different role than Tony had in Peter's life, but she thought Steve would be a good influence on him. 

Steve looked up at Bucky as they finished packing for the two week trip, smiling as he watched Bucky squash down his suitcase with his metal arm so he could zip it closed. 

"You know, it's been a while since we've been to Europe." He pointed out.

Bucky scoffed quietly. "Yeah that's an understatement." He replied. "At least this time maybe we won't have to run through the woods mostly naked to get away from Nazi soldiers." 

"Yeah in retrospect hunkering down in that barn for a night was probably a bad idea." Steve agreed dryly. "You know, I'm glad Pepper helped us get all our identification and passports in order. I have to admit, I probably wouldn't have known what to do. I guess I could've asked Agent Hill for help..." 

"Yeah because she doesn't have enough on her plate." Bucky slung his bag over his shoulder. "Come on, we told Peter we'd take him to get breakfast before the flight." 

"Yeah, I'm curious to find out what Cinnabon is, and why it's so good." Steve quipped as they walked out of the apartment. Bucky followed behind him, snickering under his breath at Steve's strange brand of humor. 

"You know, you aren't as old as you pretend to be." He pointed out.

"Speak for yourself, some days I feel every second of my age." He scoffed. 

They managed to make it to the airport with enough time to spare to grab a few Cinnapacks and coffee from Cinnabon and as Steve bit into the sweet treat, he had to admit to himself that it definitely lived up to the hype. 

Checking in and going through the line baffled Steve and Bucky and when Peter caught the looks on their faces (especially after Steve was 'randomly' subjected to a security check) he smiled widely and only offered 'post 9-11 airport experience' as an explanation. Bucky huffed and swatted at him with his gloved metal arm, grunting when Peter just casually moved out of the way.

Little shit.

Steve and Bucky met Peter's friends Ned and MJ and both were glad that Peter had two people like them in his life. They seemed to be good for the teenager. Bucky especially appreciated MJ's dry with and almost constant busting of Peter's balls.

Steve enjoyed the trip the first few days they were there. It was less of a learning trip, as it was just a reward for almost being graduates, but he managed to get in a lot of learning for himself anyway. He sat and drew the architecture and envionment around him while Bucky went with Peter and his friends around to different places, all of them determined to eat their way across London. They'd started a rating system that Steve didn't quite understand, but at least they were keeping busy and out of trouble.

"...and I wasn't really a fan of the bangers, but the mash was pretty good." Peter said as he walked into the suite he shared with Bucky and Steve. Bucky reached forward over Peter's shoulder, practically on top of him, causing Peter to yelp, when he caught a dart that was coming right at him. 

Steve went on high alert, moving in front of Peter to protect him from whatever threat had broken into the room. He looked over into the shadow and glared when he saw Nick Fury sitting there, looking unrepentant.

"You want to tell me why you were trying to dart a teenager?" Steve folded his arms over his chest.

"Teenager my ass, I was trying to dart Spider-Man." Fury said. "And you ruined that." 

"Yeah well, we don't think it's nice to sneak up on someone and take them off guard." Bucky snarked, looking at Fury with an unimpressed look.

"What do you want, Fury?" Steve asked. 

"Like I said, I'm here for Spider-Man." Fury said. "We've gotten word of criminals in the area that we need to take down. They're called Elementals. Hydro-Man, Molten Man and Sandman. We're working with someone codename Mysterio. He's from an alternate dimension and he's an expert on them, but needs help to take them down." 

"Aww man, I just wanted to be able to enjoy this trip." Peter sighed.

"And you will." Steve looked over at him.

"I don't believe you heard me, Rogers." Fury glared at him.

Steve sent him a cool look. "I heard you just fine, Fury." He walked over to his suitcase and opened it up. "I'm not going to let you ruin the one chance Peter has right now to just be a normal teenager." He took out his old Nomad gear and put it down, unzipping another part of the bag to take out the shield gauntlets T'Challa had gifted him back in Wakanda. He looked at Fury over his shoulder with a smirk. "Which is why I'll do whatever you need me to do. Bucky here can handle eating across Europe with the others. Now. Let me change and you can tell me every detail you know about these Elementals...and this Mysterio." 

Fury watched him go into the bathroom to change into his Nomad gear and his fist clenched on the chair he was sitting in. "Motherf..."

\----------

 

Clint smiled at Pepper as he watched her get ready to leave for the day. She had to go into the city to attend a few meetings for the newly named Potts Technologies company and he had come to babysit Morgan. Pepper had asked him if he'd help her plan some ideas she could do for the Science Fair and he'd been all for it. He saw Pepper step into her heels, bringing him out of his thoughts and he folded his arms over his chest, acting like he'd been paying attention the entire time.

"You know, I just hope I can keep up. For all you know, Pepper, baby Stark may be better off without my help." He joked.

She laughed softly and gave him a knowing look. "All I need you to do is make sure she doesn't injure herself or blow anything up. And maybe keep her from wanting to do a project that involves cold fusion, anything involving gamma radiation, or anything involving a metal flying suit." 

Clint smiled at that. "I'll do my best." 

Pepper walked over to her bag and picked it up. "Morgan, mommy's heading out now! Come give me a hug, I won't be home until after bedtime." 

The precocious young girl ran into the room and hugged Pepper tightly. Pepper smiled and ran her hand over Morgan's hair gently, kissing her forehead.

"Be good for uncle Clint, ok?" She said. "I'll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast." 

"Ok mommy." She said quietly. 

Clint smiled at Morgan, who walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He put his hand on her head while Pepper was getting ready to go. "Hey, what do you think for a science project, huh? Maybe a rock collection, some leaves, we could put white roses into a glass of food coloring and..." Pepper walked out and once she did, his smile turned more mischievous and he picked Morgan up. "Ok what are we doing? I know you have an idea in mind. Just I promised your mom no..."

"Col' fusion, or gamma ways, or radia'shun." Morgan cut him off. "I know." 

"You also can't make your own Iron Man suit." Clint poked her nose.

"Tha's ok." Morgan shrugged. "Daddy aw'ready did. But it's locked until I turn eighteen." 

Clint closed his eyes and fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Let me guess, he made you promise not to tell your mom that." 

"Yep." She said. "It's stored in Harley's gawage." 

"Of course it is." He huffed out a quiet laugh. 

"Do you know what a rube goldbewg machine is?" She asked.

Clint smiled at her. "I was making rube goldberg machines in SHIELD before your mommy and daddy even knew each other."

"Good. I got the stuff." Morgan smiled back at him.

"Well good, let's go come up with a plan." Clint carried her off upstairs to get started. "No telling my secret though." 

"People won't care you're smaht." Morgan pointed out.

"I know that, MooGoo." Clint boounced her lightly. "But it's fun to see them underestimate me." 

Morgan scrunched up her nose. "I don't wike that." 

"You'll understand one day, MorgyPorgy." Clint promised. 

 

\----------

 

Steve pulled back from Pepper, a small frown on his face. "Are...are you sure we should..." He trailed off. He'd been kissing her the last several minutes, and they'd made their way up to her bedroom incase Morgan woke up sometime during the night, but he had an attack of conscience when he felt her hands on the hem of his shirt. 

Pepper laughed softly and ran her hand up his body, cupping his cheek. "Steve, I know you feel...strange in a way." She said. "But...he's been gone almost two years now, he wouldn't want my life to just stop because of it, in fact he'd probably be pissed that I've taken this long to move on. Besides, I'm not trying to get into a relationship or anything, I'm not asking for a ring. I just...thought we could have a bit of fun. But, I mean...if you don't want to..." 

"No, I do." He said. "I guess I just wanted to make sure you didn't feel pressured. I mean, I can admit Tony and I were never exactly close. But..." 

"That's sweet of you." She said. "But if I didn't want this, it wouldn't be happening." 

"Good enough for me." Steve smiled at her, and leaned in to kiss her again, moving onto the bed when she backed up against the pillows. They kissed for a few more minutes before Steve felt Pepper's hands slide under the plain white t-shirt he had on. He pulled back enough pull it over his head, tossing it somewhere across the room. He saw Pepper looking him over and he couldn't help but preen a little at the attention. 

"God Bless America." Pepper murmured, causing him to flush bright red. She laughed quietly and ran her hands down his torso and around to his lower back, pulling him down to kiss him again. 

Steve pulled back, reluctantly, and moved enough that he could run his hands under the shirt she had on, taking his time to pull it out of the skirt she was wearing before slowly unbuttoning it. 

Pepper groaned quietly. "You know, you're killing me." 

Steve smirked at that. "Sorry, but this is like unwrapping a present for me." He said, feeling a small measure of payback when she blushed. "You know there are places online that speculate about what sort of undergarments Pepper Potts wears." 

"Do they?" Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Well I'm glad it's now and not a few years ago, because they would've been disappointed to realize most of the time it was a plain tan bra that had baby spit up stains all over it." She paused and made a face. "I hope I didn't just ruin the moment." 

"You couldn't ruin the moment right now if you...fuck." Steve cursed when he revealed that she was wearing a semi-sheer black lace bra that showed off just a hint of her nipples. "I can promise you, none of them came close to anything like this." 

"Good." Pepper rubbed at his sides. "If it helps, I have on matching panties as well." 

Steve groaned quietly. "Helps something. I'm not sure exactly what, but it does." He promised. "Now I feel sort of self-conscious about my own underwear." 

Pepper laughed at that. "Aww, Steve, don't worry, men's underwear isn't supposed to be sexy. Well some of it is, but it's more about the guy wearing it than the underwear. I promise not to laugh at least." 

"A good assurance to make to a guy who's taking his clothes off." Steve leaned in and pecked her lips. He never thought he'd be here, with her, or that it would be so easy and care free. But this was more than he could have ever expected. 

"I have to ask...I mean..." Pepper chewed on her bottom lip.

He raised an eyebrow and then smirked. "I'm not a virgin." He promised. "To be honest, that was taken care of on the USO tour..." 

"So wait, is this your first time since..." She eyed him.

He laughed quietly. "No. Not even close." His ears pinkened a bit. "I'm not exactly proud of it, but after Thanos got rid of...I just...wanted to feel, you know? Something." 

"I understand." She promised. "I think a lot of people were like that. They...did things their own way, you know? I'm not going to judge you. Although, I am a little impatient, you know? I'd like to see if you live up to the hype." She winked at him playfully.

He huffed out a small sound and grinned. "We're we're own worst critics, so...I guess I'll just do my best and hope you judge on a scale." 

She laughed and kissed him again. "Deal." She wiggled out of her skirt with his help and he ran his large hand up her thigh a few times, just gazing down at her. Then he got up from the bed and slid off his shoes and socks, smiling wryly at her.

"There's no sexy way to do this." He quipped.

She laughed. "Oh trust me, I'm enjoying it anyway." 

He shook his head and undid his jeans, taking them off. It left him in his briefs and he slid back onto the bed. He slipped the shoulder strap of her bra down and kissed her shoulder, nipping at it gently. When she moaned softly and squirmed under him, he felt a little more brazen and slid his hand under her lower back, pulling her up to arch against him as he sucked and bit at her shoulder, making sure it was low enough to not show past her clothes if he marked her. The thought of it made him twitch in his briefs and since his pelvis was against hers, they both moaned at the contact. 

Soon enough both of them got impatient and Pepper stripped out of her bra and Steve helped her take off her panties before he tossed his underwear off the end of the bed. He gently pressed her down and kissed down her chest until he took one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking on it lightly. He ran his hand down her torso and down between her legs, grunting when she immediately started grinding up against the palm of his hand. 

"You're so wet." He panted quietly. 

"It's been a while." She offered. 

He smiled against her lips. "I think I can help with that." 

"I'm hoping you can." She said. She grabbed his arm when he started to move off of her. "Don't worry, I had my tubes tied after Morgan, Tony and I both agreed we were...both up in age and didn't want to risk anything. We said if we wanted a second, we could adopt. Maybe from that place Nat set up, although now I guess those children have been reunited..." 

Steve kissed her gently. "I understand." He said quietly. "You know I can't..." 

"I know, me either." She said. "The whole...you know..." 

"I remember." He nodded. "So we're...ok?" 

"Yeah we're ok." She promised.

Steve adjusted himself, sliding his hands under her back a bit, holding her like she was made of some sort of porcelain. She felt her heart flutter in her chest briefly, her leg going around his waist as he slowly started sliding into her, causing her to gasp and arch up into him. 

Steve laid on his back sometime later, panting quietly as he ran his fingers through Pepper's sweaty hair. She had her head on his pec, lazily drawing designs on his side with her fingernail. "Should I..." 

"Don't you dare." Pepper mumbled, knowing what he was going to say. 

"What about Morgan?" He asked.

She looked up at him. "She'll love having uncle Steve around for breakfast tomorrow."

He wanted to protest, but realized deep down he really didn't want to. If Pepper was ok with it, and thought it was ok, then he was, too. He leaned in and kissed her softly. "I'll make pancakes. I've been wanting to try my hand at pancake art." 

She smiled at him playfully. "It's a good thing I have plenty of pancake mix then." She shrieked out a laugh when he swatted her already pink ass playfully and rolled over on top of her again. 

 

\----------

 

Pepper smiled at Thor as she put her earring in, stepping into her heels at the same time. She hadn't been around him during the whole Thanos thing, but she'd learned from Bruce that he'd gone into quite a depression and had gained a lot of weight for a while. As it was now, though, he'd shed it all and gotten into his previous shape, along with having gone to a SHIELD (or what there was of it) approved rehab center to get over what had become an addiction to Asgardian mead. It wasn't easy for anyone involved, but after a few months he seemed to be doing well enough that he was back to his normal (albeit retired) life. He was going to a therapist weekly (again SHIELD appointed) and Pepper was happy to see the light in his eyes for the first time in a while. 

"I'm so glad you don't mind keeping an eye on Morgan." She said. "With her regular babysitters away..." 

"Of course, of course." He waved the comment off, flashing her a smile. He reached his hand up and ran it over the dreadlocked style he'd been keeping it in lately. After New Asgard settled somewhere in Eastern Europe, Thor had to get away from it for a while, after his rehab stint, so he'd settled in Wakanda, finding a kinship with T'Challa and Shuri. When Pepper had asked him about his hair, he just grinned at her and said the Dora Milaje were 'quite persuasive'. She'd gotten it out of Bruce, who'd gotten it from Sam, that the people of Wakanda called him Mzalwana uMbane. It was good that he found somewhere to be accepted for who he was, and not who he was expected to be. "Morgan and I have a standing engagement anytime I am in town, you know." He spoke very seriously, except for the twinkle in his eye and she smiled instinctively. "We must watch more of the travels of Ash and his friends while they attempt to catch all of the beasts they are after." 

Pepper laughed and shook her head. "I hope you know agreeing to watch Pokemon with her means you're indebted to her for a very long time." 

"I cannot think of anyone else I'd rather be indebted to." He said honestly. He flashed her a smile and turned to walk off when Morgan came downstairs into the room. "Bid your mother farewell, my little one, then we must continue on to the adventures of the Squirtle Squad. I have decided they are my favorite." 

Pepper bent and caught Morgan as she raced over to her, kissing her cheek. "Be good for Thor, sweetheart. I'll be home tomorrow, ok? Remind him that your dinner is in the fridge, in the..."

"Pink tuppa'wa'." She said dutifully. "Thor's is inna blue."

"Good job, my smart little girl." She ran her hand over her head gently. "Mommy loves you." 

"Love you, thwee thousand." She said, scampering down, running off to Thor, who was trying to figure out how to bring up the Netflix. Pepper watched Morgan swipe the remote from him and Thor settled down on the couch with her curled up on his lap as they started watching the cartoon, completely oblivious to anything else at that point. Pepper thought it was a good time to take her leave so she smiled at the scene one more time before leaving. 

 

\----------

 

Bucky panted quietly, listening to the broken moan come from the woman who was currently in front of him. His body was sweat slicked and his pulse skyrocketing, his mind blissfully blank except for all of the _sensations_ of everything going on. He put his other hand on Pepper's hip as she rocked back into him and he cursed quietly, squeezing firmly. He'd found out quickly she could take more than he thought and the wet smacking sound of their bodies pounding against each other proved it. The room reeked of their sex and he almost couldn't remember how they got there. 

Pepper moaned loudly again, and she pushed herself up, laying her back against his chest. He put his arm around her, his metal fingers teasing her clit while his other one grabbed her breast, squeezing it gently. "You know, when Steve told me I should come see you, I don't think this is what he had in mind." 

Pepper laughed breathlessly, laying her head back against his shoulder as he pinched her nipple. "I think this is exactly what he had in mind." She managed to say, opening her eyes to look up at him. "I...I think he's trying..."

"That's terrible of him, your reputation..." He frowned.

She scoffed. "My reputation never recovered after I started at Stark Industries." She admitted. "I just learned to not care. Now if you're coherent enough to get lost in your head, obviously I'm not doing something right." She pushed him down on his back and he hissed when he slipped out of her. She smirked down at him briefly before she threw a leg over his hip and slowly sank back down on him. When her pussy walls squeezed his dick on the upstroke a few times, he groaned loudly and grabbed her hip, not able to do anything more but hold on as she proceded to ruin him for the foreseeable future.

Bucky came aware of himself sometime after the mindblowing orgasm he'd had, Pepper draped over his chest, his bionic arm wrapped around her waist, his other splayed out beside him. Her hand was clutched against his side, her other worked under him like she was afraid he was going to leave her. 

He understood why Steve had told him to come then. Bucky, Steve, Pepper, they had something in common. 

They were lonely.

Bucky squeezed her ass, like a silent promise that he wasn't going anywhere, and she sank further down on top of him, like the weight had been taken off of her shoulders. 

"I should tell you now, Morgan expects nice breakfasts from Steve when he's here, you may have a lot to live up to." She teased quietly.

He laughed quietly, his eyes struggling to remain open. "I hope she doesn't judge me too bad." He said. "I'm better at lunch than I am at breakfast." 

Pepper smiled into his neck, her eyelashes tickling his skin. "Steve's good at breakfast, you're good at lunch, I can make a mean phone call for dinner...sounds good to me." 

"Sounds perfect." Bucky couldn't help but say. 

"The only thing that would make it perfect..." Pepper trailed off.

Bucky looked down at her as best as he could. "What?" 

"Well I mean...you aren't going to let Steve show you up, are you? He'll never let you hear the..." Pepper shrieked, laughing as he flipped them over and landed on top of her. He sent her a heated look, his eyes dialated in a way that had her squirming, all thoughts of sleep thrown out the window as he kissed down her body.

 

\----------

 

"You know, I can't believe he's graduating high school." Pepper said as she, Clint, Bucky and Steve managed to get through the crowd and find some respectable seats out of the way where no one would notice them. Steve had Morgan settled on his hip as they made their way to a group of free seats and he sat with her on his lap when they finally sat down 'so she could see'. "When Tony talked about him all those years ago, he was such a little boy..." 

"He's fifteen now." Clint pointed out. "You know the Thanos thing sort of messed with time. Plus it's been six years. He was, what, 11 at the time?"

"He's seventeen." Steve corrected, letting Morgan look over the program for the graduation. "Plus he's been working to graduate early, anxious to get started at MIT." He looked at Pepper. "You know the Stark-Potts grant really helped him out..." 

"Please." She shook her head. "The grant nothing. Harley Keener is a brilliant boy, and all of the Ivy League schools in the US have been at war practically over trying to get him to come to their college. The bragging rights alone...before this I never knew how petty Marc Tessier-Lavigne could be. Of course he has nothing on how passive aggressive Lawrence Bacow is. I think I've fielded at least twenty emails...I don't think it's such a hard concept to grasp that I had absolutely nothing to do with where Harley is going to college." 

"No, Tony had everything to do with that." Clint cracked, a knowing grin on his face. 

"Tony would be proud." Pepper said quietly, her voice drowned out by the start of the graduating students marching out to sit in their seats. Clint whipped out his phone immediately to take pictures like a proud dad. Of course, he practically was, and he knew Laura would be grilling him to see if he had paid attention and gotten any good ones. 

Pepper wiped a tear from her eye as Harley got up to accept his diploma, and they read out the list of colleges that had offered him a scholarship, and the companies that had wanted him to come to a work study program. Harley grabbed the mic, cutting off the long suffering principal and smiled roguishly. "If I do a work study program anywhere, it'll be at Potts Technologies." He said. "But for now, I'm MIT bound, Boston here I come!"

"You know I hear Boston is a pretty great place to live." Steve commented, leaning in to Pepper.

Pepper snorted and flashed him a playful look, running her hand over Morgan's head as she cheered for one of her favorite 'study buddies'. "Don't tempt me." 

 

\----------

 

Steve sat with Pepper, Bucky and Clint in the cool auditorium, glancing around at everyone. "You know, this is a pretty insane turnout for a children's school play." 

"Pine Street School is not just your average elementary school, Steve." Pepper pointed out, amused. "The elite of the elite go here. Of course everyone's packed to the rafters here. It's always like this." 

"I'm just excited I know the play." Bucky mumbled, slouched down in his chair. "Read the Wind in the Willows when I was her age probably. What role does she have again?" 

"The mole." Pepper smiled. "And I can guarantee she's the only child here who had her costume designed by Ann Roth." 

Clint whistled quietly at that. "Fancy." 

"Well it was better than me doing it." Pepper glanced over at him as he was fiddling with the camera in his hand, ready to start recording. "None of us wanted that, believe me. Besides, I had to make sure my kid looked the best up there. If I had to listen to listen to Mary Ann Wojcowski's mom brag about her knitting circle, or how Katie McConnell's mom was a wiz with a glue gun one more time, I was going to get out that suit Tony made for me and..." 

Steve shook with quiet laughter, shushing her lightly as the lights dimmed. "Take your victories how you can get them." He joked. "In this case, being able to afford a Tony winning Broadway costume designer to make your daughter's mole outfit." 

"She's so proud to be the mole, you'll see, she'll be the best one up there." Pepper boasted.

"No doubt." Bucky said, like it was just a fact. 

 

\----------

Steve looked over at Clint as they sat in two Adirondack chairs in one of the fields on the farm Clint owned, both holding bottles of beer in their hand. Nearby Morgan and Nathaniel were sitting at a picnic table, using more crayons than Steve even knew were available to color on the large paper grocery bags Clint had cut up from the stockpile he'd found under the kitchen sink. "You know, something like this, it's what I dreamed of having at some point..."

"Don't lie." Clint snorted, reaching down to scratch behind the ear of his dog Lucky when he wandered over for attention. "A city boy like you? You'd get bored within a week." 

"Ok, maybe." He allowed, adjusting the cap on his head, slouching more in the seat as he watched the kids giggling over something or other. It seemed like Nathaniel was teaching Morgan a song he'd learned in school. Something about eating apples and bananas. He couldn't follow. "But for right now, while Laura and Pepper are off at a spa for the weekend? It's pretty great." 

"Just remember, you promised to help me replace the stove at some point." Clint pointed his beer at him.

Steve rolled his eyes. He almost let loose a curse, but remembered that Morgan had a built in honing device for bad language and didn't want Pepper throttling him. On the Barton land there was a lot of places to bury his body.

"Well if you didn't have a stove that's as old as I am..." He said instead. 

"Hey it came with the place." Clint argued, a glare on his face. "It gave it character...and when we first moved in, I was a little gungho about preserving everything and making sure it fit in with the style of the house. But Laura threatened me that we just need appliances that work, even if they're a little more modern than the house. What can I say, happy wife..." 

Steve smiled at that. "Your wife is very smart. Like I was saying, it's about time you got a stove that isn't as old as I am. What'd you do with the other one?" 

Clint winced. "I, uh...well I was going to sell it, you know? I figured some idiot hipster would drool all over it, give me a load of cash. Come to find out I couldn't give the thing away. I spent four days at the flea market trying to unload it, no one wanted anything to do with it." 

"I can't blame them." Steve said. "It was more rust than anything, and stunk the house to high heavens when you used it..."

"I know, I know." Clint swatted at him. "Laura's getting tired of making meals over the fire pit and I think if we have hot dogs one more time, Lila may run away from home." 

Steve snickered. "Why do you think she wants to come to New York all the time? She just wants food that's not from a camp fire." 

Clint shot him a look that Steve returned with a cheeky grin. Clint glanced over at the kids to make sure they weren't looking at them before flipping him off, which made Steve burst out laughing. 

Soon after they'd both finished another beer, Morgan called them over to 'look at our dwawin', we dwawed all'a New Yowk.'

Steve smiled at Clint as they both stood up. "Looks like we've been summoned." 

"Hey, this kind I'll take." Clint reached out and fist bumped him before they wandered over to fawn all over the scribbles and half formed shapes covering all of the grocery bags spread out on the tables. 

 

\----------

 

Steve helped Thor cinch the belt around his waist, eyeing him critically. "So you're sure you got this handled?" 

"Have faith in me, Steven." Thor clapped him on the shoulder, beaming under the white beard he had over his face. "I have researched all I can about this Santa Claus. The lady Darcy was much help. Although I disagree with letting a stranger into your home to drop off gifts for children, I find that my opinions may be colored from all the pranks my brother played on me in our youth." 

"Yeah I remember you telling me about the snake thing." Steve said, before Thor could launch into the story again. He eyed the sleigh neaby and shook his head. "I wish you'd tell me how you managed to get nine reindeer, though." 

"Valkyrie met the aquaintance of a farmer and his wife in Norway." Thor explained, adjusting the red hat on his head. "It turned out that the farmer was not too upset about Valkyrie bedding his wife, when he was invited to join them, if you know what I mean." Thor winked exaggeratedly at him.

"I know what you mean." Steve promised in a long suffering tone. 

"Well the couple owned a farm of the magical beasts, and I believe they are caribou, not what you call reindeer. They look close enough though." Thor shrugged a large shoulder.

"And how exactly did you get the red nose on that one?" Steve gestured to a grumpy looking caribou in the front of the herd. 

Thor went quiet briefly. "I...do not wish to discuss it. Let's just say I came on top in the battle of wills...although I fear I will be sore through the New Year because of it." 

Steve chuckled loudly, unable to really help himself. Especially with Thor looking so sheepish. "Just think about the good thing you're doing, you'll make the kids real happy." 

Thor beamed again. "Aye!" He climbed on the sleigh then and Steve watched him manage to get the caribou moving toward the house, exclaiming loudly enough to be heard inside. Steve eyed the massive red bag of presents in the back and shook his head, going around the long way to slip in unnoticed while everyone else was focused on 'Santa'. 

 

\----------

Steve looked around Delmonico's as he sat with Pepper and Bucky, waiting on their wine and appetizer and nudged Pepper's foot with his own. "Not the sort of place I'd expect you to come to." He said. 

"Well it's upstate, which is good, and hey, Italian is my favorite." She shrugged. "Plus they carry my favorite shiraz. I can't complain." 

"I'm just glad no one's payin' attention to us." Bucky rubbed at his arm in a nervous gesture. 

Pepper put a hand over his and flashed him a smile. "Calm down. No one cares here. We can be as normal as we want." 

"Sorry, doll." Bucky smiled at her. "I guess I'll always be a little paranoid in situations like this." 

Pepper winked at him. "I'll just have to try harder to distract you I guess." 

Steve raised an eyebrow when Bucky practically blushed and he came to conclusions pretty quickly and grinned mischievously. "Well I guess that makes my plans for later a little easier." 

"Oh? You had plans?" Pepper asked playfully. 

Steve looked at her innocently. "I mean...Clint's babysitting Morgan at his place for the weekend. I thought we could...take advantage of it." 

"I could be persuaded." Pepper smiled. "But I'll have you know, we're at least getting dessert to go. Their amaretto cheesecake and homemade cannoli are to die for." 

"Noted." Steve promised. "It has been a while since I've had homemade cannoli." 

"That bakery on Eastern Parkway." Bucky blurted out.

Steve beamed at him like he did everytime Bucky remembered something from their youth. "Yeah! Mama Roselli's. Mama Roselli herself was kind of a..." He waved a hand. "Well, you know, but Bucky could sweet talk her daughter, Connie into giving us a box of day old's sometimes..." 

Bucky grinned slightly, in a rougish kind of way. "Wasn't too hard most of the time." 

"I bet." Steve rolled his eyes. "Not now, we're on a date with a lovely lady here." 

"My apologies." Bucky ducked his head. 

Pepper laughed quietly. "Oh come now, it's very well documented how much of a ladies man you were." 

"Not just the ladies." Bucky glanced over at Steve.

"Well you definitely have to tell me about that sometime." Pepper leaned her head on her hand, winking at him. 

Bucky toyed with her other hand lightly. "Be easier just to show you." He said brazenly.

Pepper looked between them. "Well far be it from me to be dumb enough to turn down a little show and tell." 

Steve collapsed on one side of the bed, a light sheen of sweat covering his bare body, feeling Pepper move, almost boneless, on her stomach on his side, laying her head against his bicep. On her other side, Bucky laid against the headboard, looking like his mind was a little blown and it made Steve huff out a quiet laugh. 

"I think that was a very good presentation." Pepper offered quietly. "I...definitely have a very good understanding about how things had been." 

"Yeah except at some point, I'd have to stop and just watch." Steve shook his head. "It's...definitely a lot better now, all things considered. 

"Yeah well, speak for yourself, you ain't the one that's gonna be walkin' funny for a while." Bucky rumbled, sounding less put out than he was trying to act. 

Pepper swatted at him lightly. "No that'll be me. I have to say...this has been a few firsts for me." 

"Hopefully not lasts." Bucky glanced over at her, a slightly vulnerable look on his face.

Pepper threw her arm over his stomach. "Don't you know by now, you can't get rid of me?" 

"Wouldn't want to." Bucky tucked her in against him. 

Pepper glanced over at Steve. "I think we could use those cannoli now." 

Steve nodded and pushed himself up and out of the bed. He yelped at the slap to his ass and turned to glare halfheartedly at Pepper and Bucky, who were sending him twin smirks.

"What?" Pepper asked. "I couldn't help myself."

"What have I gotten myself into?" He rumbled playfully, walking out of the room to go grab their desserts. 

"Hell if I know, Stevie." Bucky called out to him. "But I'm gonna have a hell of a time figurin' it out with you." 

"You and me both, Buck." Steve said to himself, a content smile coming to his face. "You and me both."


End file.
